THE IMPORTANCE OF SEED IN AGRICULTURE

AND THE NEED FOR A SEED PROGRAM 11

James C. Delouche and Howard C. Potts ~

This seminar on 11 Improved Rice Seed Production .. is evidence that

WARDA, as a organization, and you, as delegates from member countries,

recognize the importance of seed production and supply in advancing rice

production. The stated purposes of this meeting are to review rice seed

programs in the region, identify major problems and constraints, and to

develop recommendations for improvements in rice seed production and

supply. These are good purposes or objectives but their accomplishment

will have little effect on rice seed supplies in the region unless every

delegate makes a committment to act positively, energetically and for as

long as necessary on return to his country to implement the recommen-

dations that will arise out of the deliberations here.

We very much appreciate the invitation to participate in this semi-

nar, and the opportunity it provides for us to meet many of the rice

workers in West Afica and to determine how we can best cooperate with

WARDA in its important work. While the topic assigned to us is of a

general nature, we hope our discussion will serve not only to establish

11 Paper presented during the, .. Seminar on Improved Rice Seed Pro­duction in West Africa .. , Freetown, Sierra Leone, September 5-9, 1983.

21 Professors of Agronomy-Seed Technology, Seed Technology Labora­tory, Mississippi State University, Miss. State, MS 39762 USA

2

an appropriate perspective for the more specific discussions that will

follow but also to motivate you to make the committment that must be

made to get on with the task of improving rice seed supplies.

The perspective we will try to establish for this seminar derives

from the experiences of our group during 25 years of cooperative work

with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on seed

program/industry development projects in the less developed countries.

Under terms of several contractual arrangements and cooperative agree­

ments with USAID, our University has been privileged to assist in many

different ways with seed program development efforts in more than 45

countries - including many of the countries represented here.

During the past 25 years we have learned many things about seed

production, supply and usage in the less developed countries, but the

most important lesson is that there is no single 11 formula 11 for seed

program/industry development. Rather, it is our experience that the

need for a 11 Seed program 11 and its scope, composition, technological

level and rate of development are determined by dynamic and interacting

social, economic and technical factors, which vary among countries and

within a country over time. As 11 Change agents 11, we need to understand

the more significant of these factors and how they interact so that our

efforts can be directed toward changing them in ways most conducive to

achievement of the goal of a progressive agriculture supported by an

effective seed production and supply system.

3

The Importance of Seeds in Agriculture

Crop agriculture began more than 10,000 years ago on the flood

plains of the great rivers of North Africa and the mid-East with man's

discovery of the propagative function of seed. From the beginning of

crop husbandry to our time, seeds have been the key ingredient in the

establishment, expansion, diversification and improvement of crop pro­

duction. Yet, seeds are such an integral part of agriculture we tend to

take them for granted, or overlook their crucial roles in agricultural

production and crop improvement.

Seeds are, first of all, a most efficient and effective means of

crop propagation. They are the principal means by which plant popu­

lations have been and are distributed over both time and space. Com­

pared to the vegetative propagules used for some crops, seed are smal­

ler, hence very convenient to store and transport, hardier and longer­

lived, easier to sow, relatively free of diseases, and a much smaller

portion of the production is required for propagation. While seeds are

marveleously adapted for propagation of plants, they have another func­

tion or role which is even more pivotal in crop improvement.

Sexual processes in plants continuously combine the heritable vari­

ability in the inter-breeding population in different ways in the pro­

geny produced. Seed are the product of the sexual process in higher

plants and the repository of the heritable traits of the progeny. Some

of the plants propagated from seed exhibit traits or combinations of

traits that make them 11 different 11 from other members of the population.

For thousands of years man has slowly improved the crops he cultivates

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by saving seed for propagation from plants exhibiting traits he per­

ceived to be most useful. In this century, the process of crop im­

provement has been tremendously accelerated through systematic collec­

tion and preservation of the variability in crop species and exploi­

tation of the science of genetics. The improvements genetically en­

gineered in small populations of plants by modern plant breeders are

most efficiently maintained, transmitted and multiplied by seeds.

Seeds, therefore, are the principal means for extending improvements

effected in crops, i.e., improved cultivars, from the breeding nursery

to farmers' fields throughout the area of adaptation.

A third, relatively modern, and increasingly important role of

seeds in agriculture is as a carrier of agricultural chemicals. Seeds

are very convenient carriers of chemicals required in relatively small

quantities for protection of the seed and developing plants against

insects, diseases and weeds, regulating plant growth and development,

and amending the nutrient status of the soil.

A good understanding of the primal and catalytic roles of seed in

crop agriculture is essential for the formulation of effective strat­

egies for agricultural and rural development. Seed - improved seeds -

must be recognized both as a key component in the package of inputs

required to improve crop production, and as a catalyst for exploitation

of other technological improvements in crop production. As an input,

seed have several advantages over other inputs such as fertilizer,

pesticides, and improved water management. They are required in rel-

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atively small quantities, multiplied rather than consumed in the pro-

duction process, familiar to all cultivars, and their use does not

require any change in farming practices per se, although some change is

usually desirable. On the other hand, seed as compared to most other

inputs have two disadvantages which are often overlooked: they are

alive and must be maintained in a living condition to fulfill their

propagative function; and the production of seed has to be planned well

in advance of the time they are to be used - they are not a 11 Shelf 11 item

like fertilizer and pesticides.

The Need for a Seed Program

The first 11 seed program 11 was established by the first cultivator.

Thereafter, every serious farmer has taken steps to assure adequate seed

supplies for the crops he cultivates, i.e., developed a 11 Seed program. 11

Steps taken by farmers to assure seed supplies range from the tradi­

tional saving of a portion of the production for propagation, through

various barter arrangements with other farmers or village merchants, to

the 11 booking 11 of all seed needs with a seed supply company in advance of

the planting season. 31

Several factors influence the specific seed supply arrangemments

made by farmers: production objectives (subsistence or marketing);

31 We recognize that availability of the range of seed supply al­ternatives considered assumes the existence of some sort of seed pro­duction and supply system. It is our thesis, however, that until farmers seek or can be persuaded to seek alternatives to traditional 11 Seed saving 11

, there is no sound basis for establishment of a seed program/industry.

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kinds of crops and area cultivated for each kind; level of production

technology employed for each crop kind; availability of superior cul­

tivars; availability of other inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides,

water; commodity prices; climatic conditions - long term trends and

seasonal variations; and the availability of cash or credit. The im­

portance of these factors varies among farmers and among the crop kinds

cultivated by a single farmer. Subsistence farmers are usually as

interested in yield stability (risk aversion), the consumption qualities

of the produce (taste preference), and secondary uses of the crop

(straw, stalks) as in 11 potentially 11 high yield. They often perceive

that the desired crop qualities are more certain in traditional vari­

eties, and follow traditional seed saving practices. Large scale,

market-oriented farmers, on the other hand, often feel it is most cost

effective to purchase seed every season from a reputable supplier than

to take the time and make the effort to save seed. Many farmers make

11 mixed 11 arrangements for their seed supplies. Thus, a West African

farmer might save seed for his sorghum crop, but buys or is supplied

with groundnut and cotton seed, while an American farmer might purchase

seed every season for his corn crop (hybrid), only periodically for his

soybean crop, and very infrequently for his wheat crop.

Our purpose in reviewing the seed supply arrangement made by farm­

ers is to establish two premises:

1. Seed production and supply systems (or a seed industry) for

a village, district, country, or even a region, develop in

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response to opportunities that arise out of the choices among

seed supply arrangements farmers perceive to be best for the

crops they cultivate.

2. The scale, composition and technological levels of a seed

program/industry are, therefore, ultimately determined by the

same factors which influence the seed supply arrangements

farmers make, would prefer to make, or can be persuaded to

make.

The manner in which these premises have acted to determine the

make-up of national seed industries can be illustrated with many ex­

amples. A few examples in both developed and less developed countries

follow:

In the 1930s U.S. farmers perceived that use of hybrid corn

varieties was advantageous but on-farm production and saving of

seed was too complex. A large scale, highly sophisticated hybrid

corn seed industry developed to supply the hybrid seed needed.

Many U.S. wheat farmers, on the other hand, still save seed for

planting (wheat is self-pollinated) except when they want to re­

place the variety or varieties they cultivate with new varieties.

As a consequence of these seed supply arrangements, the wheat seed

industry in the U.S. is small scale and not well developed, al­

though wheat is a major crop.

The small (in area cultivated) farmers in the Kenya highlands

were persuaded in the 1960s by excellent demonstrations and an

effective extension service that hybrid corn varieties were highly

beneficial, and a very efficient hybrid seed service has been

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established to supply their seed needs. In contrast, most corn

farmers in the lowlands of Kenyu still do not perceive that the

hybrid corn varieties available are superior to traditional va­

rieties and continue to save seed.

Farmers in Thailand started producing soybeans during the rainy

season for the market in the early 1970s and experienced great dif­

ficulty in saving seed of good enough quality to plant. The gov­

ernment responded by establishing a soybean seed program based on

production of the seed during the 11 dry season. 11 It has been rea­

sonably successful.

Indonesia established a rice seed program in the 1960s, but it

progressed very slowly until different biotypes of the brown plant

hopper (an insect) began to evolve. Since varietal resistance is

the best means of control, the rice seed program had to rapidly

develop to supply seed of new, resistant varieties to replace

varieties as they become susceptible.

A substantial hybrid cotton seed industry has developed in India

because farmers perceive that hybrid cotton varieties are superior

despite the relatively high cost of seed laboriously produced by

hand pollination.

It should be evident from the foregoing discussion that the matter

we need to address here is much more complicated than the question of

whether or not a seed program is needed, more specifically a rice seed

program. The more appropriate question is: what scale, composition and

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technological level of rice seed production and supply is required in

the various countries to permit rice farmers to make the seed supply

arrangements they presently make, would prefer to make, or can be per­

suaded to make?

WARDA 1 s activities have been quite successful in promoting and

improving rice production in West Africa. We can assume, therefore,

that developments have reached the stage where adequate supplies of seed

of the superior rice varieties are essential for continued progress.

Futhermore, it is quite likely that the stage of seed program/industry

development and the demand for rice seed vary widely among the different

countries. In view of the probable situation in West Africa, some

discussions of the requisites for a seed program/industry, 11 lessons 11

leaned from experience, and the components of a seed program would

appear to be appropriate before considering some of the general char­

acteristics of rice seed programs.

Requisites for a Successful Seed Program

A seed program can be defined as those activities conducted and the

measures implemented to achieve the desired levels of production and

supply of seeds of superior varieties and the use of these seeds by a

high percentage of the farmers.

Considering the countries that are making rather rapid advances in

agricultural productivity as well as those that are only approaching the

.. take off .. point for substantial and sustained progress, certain re­

quisites for the effective organization, implementation and subsequent

10

development of a seed program/industry are clearly indicated. Many of

the problems associated with the establishment of seed programs and most

of the failures or near-failures can be attributed to failures either

in recognizing these requisites or in providing for their proper de­

velopment.

High-Level Support: Desire and determination within the decision­

making level of government to improve agriculture and the supply of

essential inputs in the first requisite. Determination and desire

alone, however, are not sufficient. They must be tempered with an

understanding and appreciation of the needs of agriculture and their

priority, alternative avenues to progress and their relative accessi­

bility, and the human and material resources that can be committed to

the task. A proper balance among development programs is most important.

To assure the proper balance among development programs, it is most

often necessary for the Ministers to establish a definitive agricultural

development policy. This policy must establish priorities for the total

development of the agricultural sector, not just for seed, research or

extension. If seed is among the priority programs, then a national seed

policy and a plan for its implementation should be developed. In the

absence of high level support to assure a continuous supply of personnel,

finance and land a seed program simply cannot develop beyond its current

level.

Productive Plant Research Program: An active and productive plant

breeding, introduction and varietal testing program is the corner-stone

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and second requisite for a seed program/industry. Structuring a seed

program on traditional or 11 Unimproved 11 varieties can seldom be justified.

Sporadic yield increases might result from improved seed production and

processing practices, but the overall and long term effect is usually

disappointing. Cultivators have worked out successful methods for

saving seed of self-pollinated varieties over hundreds of years.

Elaborate schemes and facilities, no matter how well intentioned, are

unlikely to improve seed usage very much. Most cultivators need only a

small quantity of seed, a few kilograms, for their own plantings. Once

they obtain seeds of a new variety, they rarely obtain additional seed

until a better variety is developed and tested at the farm level.

Rarely have breeders developed a variety that is truly superior 1n

the absence of other improvements in production practices. Development

of these associated practices are also a responsibility of the research

program.

Cultivator Demand: The production of a large quantity of quality

seed of a superior variety for which there is no demand, or which

cannot be effectively distributed, is a futile as creating a strong

demand for improved seed without provision for adequate production.

Either situation can wreck the developing seed program and stifle

development. In the first case, the waste of resources and effort is

obvious, while in the second case, the cultivators simply consider that

the situation is just another in a long series of government misadven­

tures, and they will become even more distrustful of non-traditional

schemes for agricultural improvement.

12

Getting good seeds used is probably the most difficult task en-

countered in a developing seed program. Developing an awareness among

the cultivators of the potential of improved seed - or any input to the

point where they will demand it - is usually a function of the agricultural

extension service. On the other hand, failure of the extension service

to keep pace with developments and to persuade the cultivators to adopt

improved practices or varieties, is one of the problems most frequently

related to us by seed specialists in developing programs. It is certain,

however, the success of a seed program/industry should be judged in

terms of how much seed produced are distributed and planted, and not

solely on the quantity produced.

A Sound Plan and Organized Effort: Accomplishment of the mission

of a seed program requires planning and organization. Planning outlines

the program, establishes its goals and scope, allocates necessary

resources, and provides for continuity. After planning, organization is

then necessary for successful implementation and attainment of goals.

Effective cooperation has to be established among the various govern­

mental agencies involved in crop improvement, research, extension,

education, agricultural credit, supply, and with cultivators and other

parties in the private sector. In the long run, the latter will or

should evolve into a 11 Seed industry ...

The organization of a seed program does not follow a rigid pattern.

There is no one formula for success. The biological characteristics of

plants and seed do impose some limitations on what can and what cannot

be done. Aside from these limitations, however, the only criteria are

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that the plan and organization should foster a maximum of effectiveness

and efficiency, a minimum of unnecessary procedures and irrelevant

regulations, and should provide for and encourage - from the beginning -

the participation of farmers (as contract seed producers) and other

private persons and institutions.

A Cadre of Trained Personnel: General familarity with seed pro­

duction, processing, storage, or marketing might suffice for broad

planning of seed programs, establishment of goals and the outlining of

an organization. But, implementation of the plan and the conduct of

operations are quite different things. Acquaintance with the general

principles of drying is simply not sufficient to equip a person to deal

with the immediate problem of drying rice seed during the wet season in

Sierra Leone when the humidity is near 100% and temperature near 40C.

Seed operations in areas characterized by a seasonal division between

rainy and dry periods, high temperatures and humidities, poorly developed

transportation and communications are outside the experience of most

seed specialists from Western Europe or the U.S. On the other hand,

only a limited number of seed specialists from West Africa have received

sufficient needed technical training, and persons with the experience to

direct a comprehensive seed program are even more limited.

Opportunities for comprehensive training in seed technology are

greatly restricted. Even in the so called developed countries, the

training is too often directed toward specialization, e.g., as seed

analysts or seed pathologists, rather than developing a comprehensive

knowledge of both the technical and managerial skills required by the

leaders of a developing seed program.

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It may appear that we are over-emphasizing these"requisites" for

seed program development, or that they are so obvious that they can be

taken for granted. We have found, however, that ignorance of the bases

for a seed program has been responsible for many seed program failures.

Lessons from Experience

Since 1958 our staff has had the opportunity to work with seed

technologists and administrators in many developing and developed countries,

participating in essentially every aspect of seed program development

from the design and implementation of comprehensive seed programs to the

proper techniques for cleaning equipment and facilities between varieties.

From this broad experience we have learned several "lessons" concerning

the development of seed programs, regardless of their "stage" of development.

These five lessons are as follow:

(1) Skilled, knowledgeable manpower was basic. The initial

efforts in the seed program should be scaled to developing

manpower resources. Conversely, manpower resource develop­

ment must be accorded high priority in the time frame of over­

all development. Since skilled, knowledgeable manpower will

be limited if not non-existent in most countries, initial

implementation must also be limited.

(2) Early development efforts were concentrated. Diffusion of

effort, fragmentation of resources, and dispersion of opera­

tions are not ways to build a program. Initial efforts and

available resources must be concentrated, centrally managed

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and closely coordinated until the program attains the 11 Critical

mass .. stage and becomes self-sustaining. Only then can the

program be broadened rapidly in an orderly, efficient, and

successful manner.

(3) The quality of inputs into the program was more important

than their quantity. If a program is built with makeshift,

piecemeal and haphazard inputs then its outputs are unlikely

to be different. The 11 bandwagon 11 approach to seed program

development has not succeeded, although, it has often been

tried. Construct the program with quality inputs - good

workers, good equipment, good organization, good support.

Should resources be insufficient to support more than a

very modest but good effort, then settle for a modest program.

(4) The time-frame was realistic. The 11 Crash program .. approach

to building a seed program-industry also has not succeeded.

Ample time for development must be alloted. A modest base

solidly constructed a few years in advance of the anticipated

urgent need for large volume seed production is the best

approach.

(5) Planning, evaluation and implementation were continuous. One

evaluation, one plan and a single implementation effort do

not build a program. They can only start one. The 11 plan 11

must be revised, expanded, contracted, redirected, on the

basis of periodic assessments of progress. Even after the

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program/industry becomes 11 0n-goi ng 11 there wi 11 sti 11 be

a need for further evaluation, planning and implementation

to increase its efficiency, versatility, and scope, or just

to keep up with the times.

Components of a Seed Program/Industry

11 A good seed program ... involves a number of components, each of

which may be likened to the links in a chain. And, like a chain, if one

of the links is weak the chain is also weak. some of the links are

common to all of agriculture; others are peculiarly related to seed. 11 4/

Our experiences suggest that one of the most common problems in

seed program development is an inadequate or incomplete understanding of

just what is a seed program. In some countries a few components of a

seed program have been actively promoted, supported and developed,

(e.g., seed testing, seed legislation, breeder seed production), while

others remain underdeveloped and relatively unpromoted. In other coun-

tries, the various components of the program are so unevenly developed

that the 11 Weak links 11 impede progress. While we do not have time here

to consider the various components of a seed program in detail, a list-

ing of the components with brief comments should be beneficial:

(1) Productive varietal testing, introduction and development re­

search. This is the base of a seed program/industry.

41 D. D. Hill. Seed and the World we live in. Foreign Agri­culture. FAS, USDA, Washington, D. C. January, 1981.

17

(2) Varietal maintenance and breeder seed production. Released

varieties must be maintained and periodic supplies of breeder

seed produced.

(3) Basic seed production . Basic seed are the foundation of

certified and/or commercial seed production.

(4) Seed production. Multiplication of basic seed up to the

quantities needed has to be organized and adequately con­

trolled.

(5) Seed conditioning. The quantities of seed produced in a seed

program can not be handled by the traditional methods used by

farmers for saving seed. Seed threshing, drying, cleaning,

treating, packaging and storage facilities are required.

(6) Marketing and distribution. Seed have value only to the

extent they are distributed to farmers and planted by them.

Marketing, therefore, involves promotion of the seed produced

so that it is demanded by farmers. Distribution involves the

management and mechanics of positioning the seed desired by

farmers at the proper time and place.

(7) Quality assurance and control. The quality of seed is

very important. Therefore, a system is needed to assure and

control the quality of the seed produced and marketed. Seed

certification, seed testing, seed legislation are mechanisms

for assuring and controlling the quality of seed.

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Rice Seed Programs

The stage of development, scale, and technological level of rice

seed programs vary widely among countries. One of the main determinants

of the scale and technological level of a rice seed program/ industry

appears to be farm size and end use of the rice production. In Central

and South America where rice farms are relatively large and the pro­

duction is all marketed, rice seed programs/industries are well de­

veloped and quite efficient. The 11 large 11 farmers producing rice adopt

new varieties and production practices readily and tend to buy seed at

least every 2nd or 3rd season.

In many Asian countries, on the other hand, rice is produced by

small farmers and most of the production is consumed by the farm family.

While Asian rice farmers have adopted the new varieties, they still save

seed for planting and buy seed very infrequently - only when they per­

ceive the need to change varieties because of the release of a new

superior variety or need a variety with specific disease resistant

characteristics. As a consequence of these situations, rice seed pro­

grams/ industries in most Asian countries are relatively small scale.

there is just no consistent or predictably demand for rice seed. Never­

theless, a program of reasonable scale is needed to multiply seed of new

varieties so that adequate quantities are available for farmers who wish

to change to new varieties as they are released.

Technologically, rice seed are among the easiest kinds of seed to

multiply and produce on a large scale. First, the multiplication ratio,

of rice, i.e., kgs. produced by planting 1 kg of basic seed, is very

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high- 1:100 or higher. Secondly, rice seed are relatively easy to har­

vest and thresh and small threshers are available. Thirdly, rice is

self-pollinated so out-crossing is a very minor problem and maintenance

of varietal purity is not difficult. Finally, rice is very well adapted

to the humid tropics, and rice seed are among the most resistant seed

kinds to field deterioration and the deteriorating effects of high

temperature and humidity. If properly dried rice seed store very well.

The requirements for a rice seed program are not different from

those for other kinds of seed: superior varieties accepted and demanded

by farmers; varietal maintenance, breeder seed and basic seed produc­

tion; seed production on government land or with contract farmers;

facilities for threshing, drying, cleaning, packaging, and storage; good

marketing and distribution; and quality assurance and control. Since

the same general facilities needed for rice seed are suitable for other

kinds of seed, the program can be most efficiently operated by including

other seed kinds along with rice.

Summary

Seed have several crucial roles in agriculture. They are the most

efficient means of propagating crops, and maintaining and transmitting

genetic improvements made by plant breeders. Every cultivator has a

seed program for selecting and saving the seed he needs for planting the

next crop. This seed saving practice is adequate in traditional agri­

culture, but as research develops superior varieties and associated

practices, a district or national seed program/industry is needed to

multiply the seed of the new varieties up to the quantities needed for

20

distribution to farmers. Rice seed are among the most adaptable kinds

of seed for large scale production and distribution. The benefits of a

seed program based on superior varieties are very great. Thus, the

investments needed to establish a seed program can usually be easily

justified.